Weapons with Hearts
by A New Username
Summary: In the year 2020, the threat of World War III was imminent due to differing opinions on how to deal with ISIS. But then, a breakthrough in genetics by US scientists changed everything, the results deciding the battle against ISIS in a matter of days and ending the threat of World War III. Then, a new problem arose: what to do with the hundreds of teenagers used as living weapons.
1. Prologue: Project Uninhibited

**Author's Note**

 **EDIT 2/9/16: I edited some stuff based on problems that some people reported. Nothing that deserves much of a mention other than that I completed a sentence that was integral to the explanation of the powers and changed the adoptions/abductions to be from the CIA instead of the FBI. More edits may come in the near future depending on what critiques I receive. So that's happening.**

 **This is an idea that I came up with today, but the concepts behind it have been plot devices I came up with years ago. So it's sort of old, but sort of new as well. I'll tell you what's new and what's not at the bottom, after the story reveals them.**

 **Also, I know full well that this thing is pitifully short (for frigg's sake, the two author notes together are almost as long as the whole chapter!). But to be fair, it's only a prologue, and the next chapter will be twice to four times the length of this one. It's only short because this omniscient perspective I used for this is painfully full and boring after too long, so I made it as short as I could.**

 **Also, the standard warnings apply, along with some others:**

 **Kirito is female. I mean, since when have I ever written a story where he's a male? It just hasn't happened on this account. Anyway, her real first name is Kimiko, which means "Empress Child" in Japanese.**

 **There is yuri, lesbianism, femslash, whatever you like to call it. If you don't like that to the point that it interferes with the reading experience, then stop right here, otherwise you'll waste both your time and mine.**

 **Also, there is no virtual reality in this, it's an AU mostly modeled after the real world with a few sci-fi elements added in.**

 **Another nonstandard warning is that I changed the ages of most of the characters. Pretty much all the mains are over 18, with the exception of Kiriko, who is still a teenager. There's reasoning for it, but I won't spoil it yet. On top of this, I changed the nationality of most of the characters as well, from Japanese to American.**

 **The third and final warning that is unique to this fic is that I have no idea whether this whole scenario is either scientifically or realistically possible. You may be able to suspend your disbelief for the science aspect, but I have no idea whether this kind of thing could happen, politics-wise. It's certainly unethical, not to mention that I don't know whether this situation accurately describes the relations between countries I pointed out. I could be totally off base, and I don't really care, so if you're going to just bash me for being wrong there, I'd prefer it if you just didn't review at all, because I know and it's not worth my time to answer you (though I already blocked the guy who usually does that, so it shouldn't happen).**

 **Anyway, that's enough out of me. Hopefully you like it. See you below!**

* * *

Weapons with Hearts

Prologue: Project Uninhibited

* * *

In the year 2020, the threat of a third world war was imminent. Diplomatic tensions between nations across the globe were at an all-time high as everyone struggled to come to an agreement on how to deal with the Islam terrorist group IS.

However, the inability to come to an agreement led to an inability to act, which allowed the terrorists to continue on without much fear of repercussions. As they grew more and more confident that no one would ever come after them, their strikes became more and more bold, leading to increased casualties as a result of the world's inaction.

However, the impending world was not between IS and the rest of the world. Instead it was to be between the US and its allies and Russia and its allies, whose opinions on how to stop IS differed drastically. Russia wanted to bomb all of their known bases and be done with it, and the US wanted to come to a solution with less potential for collateral damage.

Their disagreements threatened to bring war to the whole world, not just to IS. As such, seemingly every country that was not neutral continued to build up their military forces – both in humans and in weapons.

Around this time, a young philosopher whose popularity was on the rise said something that went viral in a day. The philosopher was in favor of attacking the terrorists, but was against using bombs to do so. He wanted to end the fight with humans rather than explosions and radiation. The words he uttered while speaking on television were:

"The greatest weapon is not a bomb. It is the heart and mind that does not hesitate. Humans and their nations have opposing forces in their hearts and residents, and so they hesitate. And that hesitation weakens them. The only way we can actually win against our enemy is if we don't hesitate."

His words took the country by storm. They transformed him from a young and inexperienced philosopher into a man revered as one of the best in his field. He became nationally famous almost overnight. If only they realized how true his statement would prove to be.

Shortly after this happened, geneticists working secretly for the military discovered a new kind of gene that all humans possessed. They discovered it by accident, while performing genetic experiments on monkeys. They didn't even fully comprehend what had happened at first. All they did was completely delete a few genes with ambiguous purpose in a young adult male specimen through a newly-developed process. The plan was to see if they could change the color of the monkey's fur to make it blond, but they accidentally entered the wrong command into the machine, and suddenly the primate was lifting objects as heavy as steel safes – with nothing but his mind.

Of course, an animal such as a monkey having such power could be very dangerous, so they had to put it down. But before they ended its life, they took one more sample of its DNA for analysis. They discovered that there were roughly a hundred genes with similar or close to identical properties as the ones they deleted. They dubbed these genes "inhibitor" genes, because after they were deleted, the subject's continuous and peakless evolution would begin without end.

What made this significant was the fact that every single gene in this group was one that both monkeys and humans shared. This meant that in theory, if the same gene deletion process was applied to humans, those humans could develop strange powers as well.

But the ethics of such a thing were debatable at best. Therefore, they worked with the CIA to gather a group of around a thousand adolescent test subjects from foster homes across the country. The "gathering" event was actually just the gatherers adopting these teenagers throughout a four month period so as not to arouse suspicion.

The testing began as soon as the adoptions were all finished. The process to completely delete a gene from all of a person's DNA was painless, and the technology used to do it looked very similar to a tanning bed, so very few of the teens were suspicious enough to try to stop the process.

The results, as one would expect, were all across the board. In the first place, the experiments were just as diverse. The first group, one of roughly a hundred subjects, had all one hundred inhibitor genes deleted. The very next hour, about fifty of them died before their powers developed. After two days, forty more of the subjects had died as well, leaving only three of the subjects alive. Of those three, one had undergone serious degeneration of the brain, leaving him unable to be of use. That left only two of the subjects alive, both of whom suffered no noticeable negative effects.

Those two, both female, developed frighteningly intense and dangerous powers. Their personalities were altered, but their brains showed no signs of defects or degeneration. These two were considered uneasy successes, because the extent of their powers struck fear into the hearts of the staff. These two small successes drove the experiments forward where they had come close to termination.

The next group, another hundred, only had ten of the inhibitor genes deleted. None of them suffered negative effects, but at the same time, the powers they developed were phenomenally weaker than that of the two survivors of group one. They wouldn't be strong enough to be of use in a battle, and therefore these teenagers were removed from the experiment – they weren't killed, but they were taken care of under close supervision and complete isolation to ensure that no information leaked to the public.

The next several groups were all used to determine how many genes would yield a proper balance between safety and power. The final group, consisting of the last two hundred subjects, had about fifty of the hundred inhibitor genes deleted. They developed strong powers that weren't so dangerous as to be uncontrollable, yet could still be used to great effect in a warzone.

These complete successes, along with the two survivors of the first group, were quickly dispatched among the military forces. As the president of the US became aware of the new power they possessed, he quickly changed stances and declared war on IS, having enough support from congress to go through with it.

The battle was decided in a matter of days. The "uninhibited" three-hundred were each an army on their own, and they stamped out any and all resistance and threat of counter-strikes with no effort and a matching lack of hesitation. IS was completely destroyed by these teenagers before it could mount a single retaliatory effort. Not a single life was lost on the US' side.

The members of the terrorist organization that were living in other countries lost the will to fight after hearing the news of their complete defeat, and most of them either turned themselves in or committed suicide. The rest couldn't muster up the courage to commit any crimes anymore, believing that their resistance would get them killed, and they became as dangerous as normal citizens – they weren't even worth finding to prosecute.

And just like that, the threat of both war with IS and a world war between the US and Russia were completely eliminated. The groups had nothing to fight about anymore, and so the diplomatic tensions were brought down as a matter of course.

This left only one unresolved issue. The matter of what to do with the now battle-hardened three-hundred teenagers with almost supernatural powers. By this point, their existence was public knowledge. People were both amazed by their power and appalled at the military for sending a bunch of minors into a war zone, regardless of the outcome.

The government needed to do something fast to avoid the growing threat of anarchy. And so, after a month of debating, they devised a solution: to integrate these three-hundred teenagers, along with the other surviving test subjects, back into normal society. It would be a long process, but it was the best way to avoid the threat of the government being overthrown.

One year later, just as the last of the teenagers were adopted, is where this story truly begins.

* * *

 **Author's Note**

 **Because the above note was super long, I plan to make this one short. I'll just explain a few things and leave you to work on chapter one.**

 **The idea of inhibitor genes that when deleted/destroyed would make the person develop superpowers is something I've both fantasized about and written about for years. The other stories with that included as a concept (whether it's over or not) aren't on this account, but if you want to read them, I can direct you to the pages. There are two in total.**

 **The idea of impending world war three (even if it got averted right away) is something I recently thought to write about, and I know it's far from original, sue me. I don't know if the US and Russia are allies or not (I'm pretty sure we're not, but I haven't totally confirmed it), and I don't know if what I said accurately described the intentions/goals of either of these countries regarding IS/ISIS. If I'm wrong, please don't tell me, because I frankly just don't care enough to try to fix whatever I may have messed up.**

 **Anyway, that's about it. If you have other critiques, don't hesitate to share them. If not, don't waste either of our time with a review.**

 **With that said, see the people who liked it in chapter one!**


	2. I: Meet the Electromancer

**Author's Note**

 **This was written in the same day as the prologue so I decided to release it together with the prologue. Also, more warnings:**

 **Because they're all American (though their families may originate from elsewhere), some names have been changed. For example Sinon's nickname is Shion because it sounds a little less foreign than her real name, Shino (She's a quarter Japanese, so she still has a Japanese name). Female Kirito is still going to have a Japanese name though because she just doesn't care about looking good to other people.**

 **Also, I went for Sinon's GGO hair color and made the excuse that it's dyed. So don't come at me saying "she has black/brown hair!" because I** _ **know**_ **, I just felt like using her turquoise hair to better contrast Kimiko's black hair.**

 **That's it for now. This chapter makes it seem like things are moving a bit fast, but they'll slow down next time, probably. Just read and you'll see what I mean.**

* * *

Weapons with Hearts

Chapter One: Meet the Electromancer

* * *

FBI agent Shino Asada, age twenty-two, prided herself on never failing an assignment as long as she'd been working for the government. She had initially been a contractor with a similar success record, but after someone working for the Bureau just happened to pass by her target practice (with targets around 2500 yards away – she was in an area with the only sign of human life being a road about twenty yards below her), she was made an offer she couldn't refuse.

The gun she was using (and most .50 caliber firearms) had recently been made illegal for normal US citizens to own, in the past year in fact, as he explained to her. But, as the man said while pointing towards the targets that she knew he couldn't see, the distance between her and her targets (which had been hit dead center multiple times) was impressive. He said he'd used binoculars to find the targets before he approached her.

He told her she had two options. One, he could put her under arrest for owning an illegal weapon. Option number two, she could work for him. No more contracting, just working for him and his team.

She still didn't know how that man who became her boss found out about her job as a contractor. Either he was gifted at gathering intelligence or he was just plain lucky. Either way, she accepted his offer and became the one they called in for assignments where the target was unpredictable and likely to be too dangerous in closer combat. That was how she became a sniper for the FBI.

So imagine her surprise when she received a letter from the army saying she had been chosen as the caregiver of one of those superhuman teenagers she'd heard about in the news. The ones that both started and ended the war on ISIS in less than a week.

They wanted someone who had been killing since pretty much the first time she held a gun to raise a kid? What the hell could they be thinking? Raising a kid, especially a teenager, took a lot of delicacy that, if Shino were honest with herself, she didn't have. All she knew how to do was shoot things, living or otherwise, so how did they expect her to raise someone she wasn't even old enough to be the mother of?

As she would find out upon receiving the debriefing package, however, her proficiency at killing things was precisely the reason she was chosen for this task. The kid they were sending her was already seventeen, but she was not allowed to live on her own even after she came of age. The reason was simple.

She was too dangerous. Out of all the superhuman kids she could have had to take care of, this one was the absolute most dangerous. One of only two surviving teens with all of the "inhibitor genes" or whatever they were called deleted. Not only that, but this one was objectively more dangerous than the other one with all of those genes gone. The information sheets said that both her safety and her usability were a matter of international security after the rest of the world had seen her fight. She had become the US' trump card, their ace in the hole.

In the section of the information sheets that covered her power classified her as an "Electromancer". She had complete control over anything that ran on electricity, and she could move at the speed of a lightning bolt as well as generate electricity with her body. On top of that, she had the ability to deflect bullets using an electromagnetic field to move them around her or even send them right back at the shooter.

This girl was a living weapon. No, not just a weapon – she really was an entire army all on her own.

And from this day forth, Shino had to take care of her.

* * *

To say that Shino was nervous would be the understatement of the century. She was waiting in the lobby of the compound where she was to pick up her new charge, Kimiko Kirigaya. She wasn't nervous enough that it interfered with her ability to think rationally, but it was enough to put her seriously off balance.

What would this girl be like? The information she had on her didn't say anything about her personality, so she had nothing to go on other than appearance. And though she hated to admit it, that teen did look pretty cute. But that didn't change the fact that this girl was considered an international threat if she became uncontrollable. The reason they were putting her in Shino's care seemed to be so that she would kill the girl if she went out of line.

But how did they expect her to do that when she could deflect bullets, anyway? She may have never failed an assignment before, but those were all against normal humans, not people with inhuman powers. If it ever came to that point—

"If it'll calm you down, I don't plan to go on a rampage any time soon."

The voice that called out in response to Shino's thoughts was positively beautiful. It conjured the image of a famous singer just by its smooth, low, contralto sound. And yet contrary to the idea that popped into her head after hearing it, the tone of this voice was almost completely monotone, to the extent that it made the FBI agent question whether its owner even had emotions.

"I have emotions, they're just suppressed most of the time," the smooth voice once again responded to her thoughts. "It works better for everyone that way."

Shino finally took the hint and looked up from her uncomfortable wooden seat with annoyingly thin cushions. Standing right in front of her was her new charge, dressed in a dark gray cargo jacket with a silver zipper, a light gray t-shirt that hung rather loosely over everything but her breasts, navy blue loose-fitting cargo jeans, and black combat boots.

Her figure was curvy in all the right places, and Shino admitted with a degree of jealousy that this girl's breasts were bigger than hers. Kimiko had long, lustrous black hair (a stark contrast to the almost neon turquoise-dyed hair Shino had) that went down to her waist and looked smooth enough that even the hardened FBI sniper wanted to run her hands through it.

In summation, she truly was beautiful, even more so than in the photo Shino had seen.

"In case you didn't realize it yet," Kimiko said, her eyes showing no hint of interest in the situation at all. "I can read minds. So you might want to keep thoughts like that to a minimum. At least, that's what everyone else does after they find out I know what they think."

Well, shit. What a terrible way to make a first impression. Really, Shino should have seen it coming after the 'complete control over everything that runs on electricity' bit. But she didn't think about this possibility, and now the girl she had to take care of for the foreseeable future would probably be alienated from her—

"No, not really," the dark beauty once again answered her thoughts. "I don't mind too much. Before they messed with my genes, I was into girls anyway, so I'd be a hypocrite if I judged you for that."

The sound of someone clearing their throat brought the two out of the little world they had entered by themselves. A man standing behind Kimiko, one of a rather unremarkable appearance who sported a white lab coat, held a clipboard out to Shino.

"I just need you to sign this and then you two will be free to go. You'll need to sign page three and page four," he said in a strictly business tone. Compared to the treat of a voice that she had just been talking to, his voice was full and boring, not a single hint of anything interesting, but at the very least, he was pretending he didn't hear our incredibly unprofessional exchange.

Shino accepted the clipboard and pulled the pen out from under the clip, skimming over the document before actually signing it. It just contained a typical confirmation form on the first, second and third pages, one that said she would be Kimiko's legal guardian. She signed that and flipped the page up to see the next page, where something very different caught her eye.

It said that by signing this, she was aware that her actions towards Kimiko could potentially cause an international crisis, and that if such were to happen, she would be held responsible. Shino gulped at the amount of trouble she could find herself in.

"Don't worry about that," Kimiko once again responded to her thoughts in that beautiful yet emotionless contralto. "They're talking about if I were to either go missing or go on a rampage. And believe it or not, I'm one of the more obedient UI, so the risk of either is very low for me."

"UI?" the bright-haired FBI agent couldn't help but query this unfamiliar term.

"It's what we human lab rats with superhuman powers call ourselves," the dark-haired beauty explained, seeming to intentionally talk meanly about herself. "It stands for 'Uninhibited', because varying amounts of our inhibitor genes were deleted. Also, your voice isn't half bad, either. Nice to listen to at least."

"Oh. T-thanks," Shino replied before looking back down at the paper to avoid showing off what she was sure would be a bright blush. She signed the rather daunting sheet, then handed the clipboard back to the man in the lab coat.

"Good. You're free to go, then," he said before turning around to walk away. But then, just before he started moving… "Hey. One more thing, Ms. Asada. You're free to pursue a relationship with her, but you'd be wasting your time. That one's never seemed to care about anything or anyone. She just treats everything with indifference."

With that, he walked away, leaving the two of us to ourselves.

* * *

The drive to the FBI agent's home was mostly spent in silence. There were a few attempts at small talk, but they never lasted long. Not because Kimiko didn't respond, but because Shino just kept losing herself in her thoughts.

Then, at around the time they pulled into Shino's driveway, her new charge spoke, this time with a voice that had a tiny hint of unease. "Would you prefer it if I didn't read your mind?"

"Huh?" the turquoise-haired twenty-two-year old woman wondered aloud as they both unbuckled their seatbelts. "Where did that come from?"

"Well, I can turn that specific function off," she explained, looking out the passenger seat's window at the neatly-trimmed lawn out front. "I did that for most of the car ride. I guess I just didn't want you to think bad of me because I kept doing it."

Shino had been worried for nothing at all, it seemed. Kimiko may have been made into a weapon, but deep down, she was still a teenage girl. She still had feelings, she still had a heart. And from the looks of it, a good one, too.

"Hey, look at me for a second," the hardened FBI agent said in a commanding tone. The dark beauty turned to face Shino hesitantly with noticeable fear in her eyes, only to be met with a compassionate gaze. "I wouldn't think you were bad just for using your power. It was a little unsettling at first, I'll admit, but it's probably for the best that you keep it on if you want to. At the very least, it keeps me honest. And if this is gonna work out, that's what we both need to be."

The reaction she got was a bit more than she expected. Kimiko closed the distance between them and latched onto Shino in a fierce hug, burying her face into the older woman's neck. For a second, she didn't react, but just before the teen pulled back, the neon-haired young woman circled her arms around her waist to return the hug.

"You're different from the rest, just like I thought," Kimiko muttered into her new caregiver's neck, and the older girl could _feel_ her smile. "Maybe if it's you…"

"What is it?" Shino said, giving it her all to fight back a shiver from the feeling of the other girl's lips on her neck.

"Don't worry about what that guy said back at the compound," the dark beauty suddenly changed the topic. "I may not have cared about anyone for a long time before this, but if it were you, I don't think I'd be opposed to that sort of relationship."

The seasoned FBI agent was torn between wanting to impulsively kiss the girl currently hugging her and wanting to be the responsible one and stop this conversation dead in its tracks. As the two options waged war on each other in her head, she finally settled on a solution that was in between the other two.

"Let's wait until you're eighteen," Shino said, releasing the younger girl and pulling her back so they could see each other. "In the time between then and now, we can get to know each other and decide whether that's something worth pursuing or not. That okay?"

"Yeah, that's fine," the dark beauty's smooth contralto affirmed as she opened the car door and hopped out. Just before she closed the door to Shino's red SUV, she said one more thing. "But you may want to know that my birthday is in about three weeks. October seventh. So you didn't really give us much time to think it over."

With that and a mischievous smile, she closed the door before Sinon had the chance to change the date.

This would be a long future. A fun one and possibly a hot one, but a long one nonetheless.

* * *

 **Author's Note**

 **Yeah, this is becoming super fun to write. It may end up being longer than I originally planned because it's just so enjoyable for me.**

 **For you gun enthusiasts, yes I know that .50 caliber guns aren't illegal in most states. But this fic takes place four years from now, and with so many people pushing for gun control, I see .50 calibers being the first to go, even if it takes a while. Next will come double action semi-auto guns, I'll bet. I mean, it's pretty much a given that the liberals are going to win this one eventually, they almost always win. I can say that without sounding super prejudiced because I hate both sides equally.**

 **Also, yeah I know this chapter isn't super long like I promised. It is almost double the length of the prologue minus the author notes on each, but it's still pretty short. But what you've gotta understand is that these are the opening chapters, so they set the scenario, not make use of it. They're gonna be shorter in a lot of cases. The average chapter length for this fic after the opening few is going to be three thousand.**

 **Also, the reason things are moving so fast here (they literally just met and they're considering becoming a couple, that's fast) is because of two things: Kimiko's ability to read minds, and the fact that Shino is the first person to be so accepting of her, powers and all. And even so, both of them are just feeling attraction at the moment. It's not love yet. If they started a relationship now it'd be purely physical.**

 **Anyway, that's about it. I'm just about done for now.**

 **See you next chapter!**


	3. II: Meet the Time Bender

**Author's Note**

 **The original version of this chapter was on day one, but no matter what I did with it, I couldn't get it to move forward to completion. So I decided to skip to what was the original plan for chapter three. That did the trick, and here it is!**

 **Also, through at least four reviews of this work, it has been brought to my attention that some of you think that Kimiko's powers are based off of an anime called "A Certain Scientific Railgun". I'm gonna stop that right here. First off: I've never watched Railgun. I've watched the first season of its counterpart Index, I'll admit to that, but I never even considered watching Railgun because the main character is the one I dislike most in the whole series. I hate tsundere characters about eighty percent of the time, and Misaka is no exception.**

 **Second off, most of the ideas for Kimiko's electromancy came from the main protagonist of a novel series I'm working on, which I started over five years ago, before I had even watched Index for the first time. That's the real origin of that particular power, though in my novels it's magic-based instead of science-based.**

 **Anyway, that's about it for this note. Read on, the story awaits you!**

* * *

Weapons with Hearts

Chapter Two: Meet the Time Bender

* * *

 _The seasoned FBI agent was torn between wanting to impulsively kiss the girl currently hugging her and wanting to be the responsible one and stop this conversation dead in its tracks. As the two options waged war on each other in her head, she finally settled on a solution that was in between the other two._

 _"Let's wait until you're eighteen," Shino said, releasing the younger girl and pulling her back so they could see each other. "In the time between then and now, we can get to know each other and decide whether that's something worth pursuing or not. That okay?"_

 _"Yeah, that's fine," the dark beauty's smooth contralto affirmed as she opened the car door and hopped out. Just before she closed the door to Shino's red SUV, she said one more thing. "But you may want to know that my birthday is in about three weeks. October seventh. So you didn't really give us much time to think it over."_

 _With that and a mischievous smile, she closed the door before Sinon had the chance to change the date._

 _This would be a long future. A fun one and possibly a hot one, but a long one nonetheless._

* * *

Over the next two weeks, Kimiko and Shino got to know each other better. At the same time, the electromancer's emotions became gradually more apparent in everyday life. Whether she stopped suppressing them on purpose or whether it was something unintentional, the FBI agent didn't quite know, but either way, it was a welcome change.

The only major problem was that the dark beauty seemed to have almost no social skills. She didn't understand basic dos and don'ts or societal norms even a little bit. It made the idea of eventually reintegrating her into school a struggle at best, especially when Shino considered the very real possibility of her charge turning off the brains of any people who annoyed her.

Though this was less of a concern than the impending possibility of a relationship forming between them. It wasn't that there was no attraction between the two of them – quite the opposite, in fact – it was that if they were to start one at this point, Shino felt that it would be unfair to the younger girl. Kimiko seemed to have already formed some sort of emotional bond with her, and as of yet, that hadn't exactly become mutual. The FBI agent knew that if they were to form a relationship with things at this point, it would be purely physical from her side.

She knew that thinking about such things was dangerous around the subject of the thoughts themselves, who could and would read her mind. Because of this, she tried to only think about it when they were a sufficient distance apart – such as when she went to a store to get something. But as Kimiko's eighteenth birthday approached, Shino knew she was running out of time. She would have to figure out what to do, and quickly. The agency gave her time off until her charge integrated into society a bit more and became less of a potential threat, so she had to figure out how to solve this before that time ended.

However, right at the two week mark, on September 28th, something happened that changed the whole dynamic of the household once again. The newest member of the family would make her first appearance that day.

* * *

For most of that particular day, Shino had been thinking about a particular thing she wanted to know about. Really, it was a miracle that Kimiko hadn't said anything about it, considering her mind reading ability, but when the turquoise-haired woman wondered if that lack of talking about it meant something significant.

Eventually, as they ate a lunch of sandwiches at the large, circular, gray granite dining room table, Shino decided to ask about the nagging thought she'd had for most of the day. She'd come to the realization that the girl across from her wouldn't discuss it unless she didn't have to be the one to bring it up.

After swallowing a bite of peanut butter and jelly (Shino's food preparation skills, or lack thereof, were her biggest weakness as a woman), she spoke. "I know you've heard me thinking about this today, and I don't know what your silence about it means, but my curiosity is getting the better of me."

After taking a deep breath, the hardened FBI agent asked the question that had been on her mind all day. "The other one of the two with all inhibitor genes deleted. What is that person like? I've heard from reports that you've worked together on a lot of missions."

For a good several seconds, the dark beauty didn't say anything as she chewed. Her eyes seemed to depict an internal struggle, as if she were deciding whether to answer or not – and the decision wasn't an easy one. But then, after a full five seconds and a swallow, she decided to answer.

"In a few words," Kimiko said, her face darkening ever so slightly. "Very obnoxious. In more, she made every joint mission a contest, and she wanted to fight me over everything, even though she always lost. She was the most annoying girl I've ever met in my life."

"So if she always lost, does that mean your power is stronger?" Shino couldn't help but ask. "Shouldn't they be equal?"

"No, actually. Her power is stronger than mine," the dark beauty refuted, shaking her head. "But because mine is faster to use and both of us are strong enough to win with the first move, I always won our fights. My power is as fast as a lightning bolt, which is faster than she can even think. But her power is time manipulation. She can stop, slow, speed up, rewind and travel through time, but she's limited to the speed and readability of human thought, which means she can never make the first move."

"That's… kind of a frightening power."

At these words, Kimiko actually laughed a bit, the sound music to Shino's ears. "You think that being able to read minds and turn off people's brains is fine, yet you think time manipulation is scary? I don't get your thought process. Although that's exactly what makes it so fascinating."

"But I mean, she can travel through time, right?" Shino explained her fear, voice a little bit uncertain. "If she travelled to the past and changed it, wouldn't that erase our time from existence?"

"That possibility is why I only travel to the future. On that note, one of you two is actually kind of famous in a few years."

This new, light, peppy female voice that seemed the opposite of Kimiko's smooth, low contralto resounded with an air of confidence that was obvious even without seeing its owner. The voice seemed to come from the direction of the front door a room over, which would explain why they were able to hear it so well through the thin wall.

The sound of footsteps coming from the other side of the wall dividing the two residents and their uninvited guest alerted them that this person was approaching them. After a few moments of waiting, the girl who had somehow gotten into the house even though all the doors were locked walked into the white-walled dining room.

Her clothing, for the most part, resembled what Kimiko had worn on her first day in her new home, but instead of black, all the fabric in the attire was a deep violet. Her figure was decently curvy, though not to the extent of the mind-reader across from Shino. She had magenta eyes and waist-length violet hair that matched her clothes, the bangs of which were held back by a red headband. Lastly, she had a bright and cheery smile not befitting of someone who must have broken in.

"Why is it that whenever someone gets me talking about you, you show up?" Kimiko asked in a biting tone, seemingly much less phased by the break in than the turquoise-haired woman across from her.

"I don't know about that," the magenta-eyed girl replied while flipping a lock of her hair. "I just always want to be around you because you're the one that all the most interesting stuff always happens to. Plus, you're the only person who can beat me at anything."

"How did you get in here?" Shino finally found her words, and sharp ones to boot. "The door was locked, you know. I don't take kindly to people who break into my house."

"Wow, you're fiery," the confident voice returned with her reply. "You know you're dealing with someone who could stop your time or prematurely end it, right? Your houseguest didn't tell you _all_ of my powers."

"The second you even _think_ about trying it, you'll die in the most agonizing way imaginable," Kimiko threatened with an icy glare that showed she really meant it. "I'll flood your body and brain with so much electricity that you'll turn to ashes. There'll be hardly anything left for anyone to even know you existed in the first place. Are we clear, Yuuki?"

"Now _that's_ what I call an intimidating threat," the time-bender called Yuuki said, holding her hands up as a bead of sweat rolled down her forehead. "Noted. Your girlfriend is safe, I value my life too much to try anything."

Before the turquoise-haired woman could retort about the use of the word, 'girlfriend', a buzzing in her pocket caught her attention. Her cell phone was ringing. She pulled it out the vibrating device and slid her finger across the bottom of the touch screen to answer the call before even checking the caller ID.

"Hello?" she said as the brought the sleek, rectangular phone to her cheek.

"Yo, Shion," a familiar female voice with an odd nasal inflection said from the other end of the line. "So I get this call from some guy in the CIA, telling me that they suspect the other fully uninhibited will be at your house soon. He tells me to tell you to bring her up to the base so they can take her back to where she's supposed to be. I ask him, 'Why the hell are you coming to me with this instead of calling her directly?' He didn't like that very much."

Apparently, the phone conversation had been loud enough for the subject of it to hear, because the next thing Yuuki said was a direct command regarding the call.

"Put the phone on speaker," she said, waiting until Shino complied and held the device at table-level before speaking up. "Tell the guy from the CIA that if they let me stay here, I'll be a good little girl and follow the rules. But if they make me go back to where they want me, I'll raise the kind of hell that nobody on this earth can deal with."

"I'll call you back, Shion." _Click._

"Wait, Argo, don't you dare—oh, god damn it."

"Shion?" Kimiko asked, seemingly perfectly content with shifting her attention away from the girl who would go to borderline insane lengths to be with her.

"It's my nickname at work, and pretty much everywhere," Shino explained the unfamiliar name that, as of yet, hadn't come up between them. "Everyone on my team has a nickname. That girl from the phone just now's real name is Alice, but we call her Argo. Anyway, can call me Shion too if you want. Pretty much everyone does."

"Then I think I'll keep calling you by your real name," the dark-haired beauty decided, nodding her head with a smile. "The idea of being the only one who calls you that is more appealing than calling you what everyone else does."

The hardened FBI agent couldn't help but blush a little at the usual audacity that Kimiko had with regards to her feelings, especially considering that someone else was right in front of them. Unfortunately, the potential moment was completely ruined by that same onlooker.

"I swear to god, the aura between you two is so _pink_!" Yuuki exclaimed, clearly more than a little put off about being ignored. "Get a freaking room, why don't you?"

"That would have happened a week ago if I made the choice," the electromancer said, causing Shino's blush to further deepen. "But she's completely reserved about it right now, and I'm respecting her desire to wait."

"You're a _minor_! And try to value your virginity at least a little!" a mere fraction of Shino's internal struggle escaped for only a flash of a moment.

Kimiko retorted with quite possibly the most unexpected thing possible. "I'd value it more if I had it, but I lost that a while back."

"W-what?!"

"That's a story for another day," Yuuki intervened with a bright smile before the dark beauty could say anything.

"Hey, I deserve to—" Shino's sentence was cut off as her phone, still held in her hand, began to vibrate again. She answered the call again, and knowing who it would be, said immediately after bringing the phone to her cheek, "You asshole! You abandoned me to deal with this by myself!"

"Yeah, about that," Argo replied in an uneasy tone, and the turquoise-haired girl could _feel_ her sweating nervously from through the line. "They said they're gonna bring Yuuki's things over along with her informational file within the hour. Sorry, but now you've gotta deal with two instead of one. Have fun with that!"

"Argo, you're useless!" this time, the receiver of the call was the one to end it, jamming her phone on the end button so hard it hurt a little. At that very moment, she wished she were using her house phone instead – it would have been so much more satisfying to slam it into the receiver.

She turned to the violet-haired time-bender, and at that moment, she understood why Kimiko thought this girl was so annoying. That damn girl's smirk showed she knew exactly what just happened. "Well, you got your way. You're staying here from now on. But let me be clear: you're not gonna get away with slacking off here at all."

"No worries," Yuuki replied, her smirk widening into a full smug smile. "I'm a hard worker when I've got something to work for."

If Shino thought her future would be a long one the day Kimiko moved in, now that length had tripled. Not to mention, the levels of fun and potential hotness just got cut down by way more than just half.

The first thought she had in the face of this new situation?

 _I am so screwed._

* * *

 **Author's Note**

 **So, some of you may dislike the fact that I made Yuuki an annoyance to the other characters and/or probably butchered her personality completely compared to canon. Well, other than the fact that she's literally got powers that make her as powerful as a god, she's also got a lot of circumstances in this AU that would make her personality different from canon.**

 **Although I'll say right now that Yuuki's personality is going to be one of the ones that changes the most out of all the characters in this story. She'll be much more likable by the end, I can guarantee you that.**

 **Also, I made some edits to the prologue because there were a few glaring flaws (I forgot to finish an important sentence, and I changed another thing for logic improvements).**

 **Anyway, this chapter is still a bit short, but I'd say it's still a decent length. Without the author notes it's about 2450 words, and considering about 80% of that was just one scene, I'd say that was pretty good. I probably could have described the scenery a bit more, but I never found a good opportunity to break narration enough to do that.**

 **So yeah, for those wondering what's coming next in this fic, I have one word for you that will explain everything: school. That should be more than enough to properly inform you of what to expect, even though by forming expectations I think a lot of you will be wrong at least partially.**

 **Well, that's about it for now. I'll let you get on with your lives now, I guess. The next update from me will probably be for GGO SW, which is already 2400 words in and not even halfway done. Look forward to that!**

 **See you next time!**


End file.
